How much do i make on unemployment in Washington - confused about benefit amounts

Your weekly benefit amount is what you'll receive before taxes are taken out. Washington ESD pays weekly, not biweekly. You can choose to have taxes withheld or not when you file your weekly claims.

The amount is based on your earnings from the last 5 quarters. Washington ESD looks at your highest earning quarter and calculates about 60-70% of what you made weekly during that time, up to the maximum benefit amount.

Just wanted to mention that if you're having trouble getting through to Washington ESD to ask questions about your benefit amount, I found this service called Claimyr that helped me connect with an agent quickly. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. Saved me hours of calling.

make sure you understand the maximum benefit amount for washington state changes each year. For 2025 the max weekly benefit is $999 but most people don't qualify for that much

Don't forget you have to file your weekly claim every week to get paid! Even if nothing has changed in your situation. Miss a week and you won't get paid for that week.

Also remember that if you work any hours during a week you need to report that income. It might reduce your weekly benefit but you can still get partial unemployment if you're working part time.

The whole system is confusing honestly. I've been on unemployment twice and still don't fully understand how they calculate everything.

Just a heads up that your benefit amount might be different if you were working multiple jobs or had irregular hours. Washington ESD sometimes needs additional documentation to verify your earnings.

One thing that caught me off guard was that unemployment benefits are taxable income federally. So factor that into your budgeting.

If you need to talk to someone at Washington ESD about your specific benefit calculation, definitely try that Claimyr service I mentioned earlier. Much easier than spending all day redialing the regular number.

Remember the money gets direct deposited if you set that up, otherwise they mail you a debit card. Direct deposit is faster and more reliable.

washington esd also has a benefit calculator on their website but it's not always accurate especially if you have complicated work history

Don't panic if your first payment is different than expected. Sometimes there are adjustments or they backdate things. Just keep filing your weekly claims consistently.

The whole UI system in this state is so frustrating. At least the payments are weekly instead of biweekly like some states.

Make sure you understand your base year too - that's what they use to calculate your benefits. It's not necessarily your most recent year of work.

Also keep in mind you can only collect unemployment for a maximum of 26 weeks in Washington unless there are special extensions.

pro tip: set up direct deposit and automatic tax withholding right away. saves you headaches later

The amount you get also depends on whether you quit or were laid off. If you quit without good cause you might not get anything.

Just remember to keep track of your job search activities too. Washington ESD requires 3 job search activities per week and they do audit people randomly.

One more plug for Claimyr if you run into any issues or questions about your benefits. Really saved me a lot of frustration when I had questions about my claim status.